'Blackfeet Boxing: Not invisible': Release date, plot, trailer and all you need to know about ESPN's docu on a Native American boxing club
ESPN has added another promising sports documentary to its list. 'Blackfeet Boxing: Not Invisible' is the latest on the network's roster. The outbreak of the pandemic may have brought live sports to a standstill, but that hasn't deterred the network from showcasing some scintillating sports content for the last few months. 'Blackfeet Boxing: Not Invisible' is the story of a boxing club in Montana and it was founded for one purpose — give the native American women a fighting chance against falling victim to extremely violent crimes.
Here's what we know about the documentary ahead of its debut.
Release date
'Blackfeet Boxing: Not Invisible' premieres on June 30 at 7.30 pm ET on ESPN.
Plot
The official synopsis reads: "Blackfeet Boxing is a film about fighting — for respect, identity and acknowledgment. There are no scorecards or knockouts on the reservation. The prize at the Blackfeet Boxing Club is far more vital: survival." "According to the United States Justice Department, Native American women are ten times more likely to be murdered than non-native women. More than one in three has suffered rape or attempted rape, and more than 80 percent will experience violence at some point in their lives. On the Blackfeet Reservation in Montana, these are not statistics. They are stories, of lives and families, of loss and pain."
The documentary also features interviews from Frank Kipp, the owner and lead trainer of the Blackfeet Nation Boxing Club; Donna Kipp, his daughter who was a Bronze medalist at the 2015 Junior Olympic Nationals and Mamie Kennedy, a former boxer at the club who qualified for Junior Olympic Nationals in 2018.
Writer/Director
'Blackfeet Boxing: Not Invisible' is directed by Kristen Lappas and journalist Tom Rinaldi. Lappas is best known for the Emmy-winning 'A Mountain to Climb'. The documentary was also was an official selection at Tribeca in 2018.
Trailer
The trailer opens with a direction towards Blackfeet Nation Club and reveals a shocking statistic of 73 indigenous women and girls gone missing in Montana state in the past two years. The footage then moves to women talking about how the club was one place that would give them a chance to fight back. "If you don't fight for your life, you don't have a life," Kipp says in the trailer while one of the parents stresses the need to teach their children self-defense. "It’s really important that we teach our daughters to defend themselves so that they don’t become a statistic."
Watch this space for more updates on 'Blackfeet Boxing: Not Invisible'
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